Pages

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

#12 Home Baked Pretzels (Updated)

Decided to cook some home made pretzels this evening. It was an easy recipe to follow, but not my favorite. Andrey absolutely LOVES it. I'm looking for the Auntie Anne's or Weltzel's Pretzels taste. Perhaps because this recipe is baked and not fried that it tastes different. But anyway... I'm still on the hunt for the perfect pretzel recipe. However, the experience was extremely fun considering my new kitchen appliance...

I have seriously been missing out on the magic of the Kitchen Aid. I suffered through arthritis (exaggeration) from kneading dough for hours... now my pink Kitchen Aid does all the work in 1/16th of the time. I'm smitten.

Next baking project, Sourdough Bread.

Confession:

Making sourdough bread scares and intimidates me.

Hope it will not be a disaster.

- - - - - - { UPDATE | 7.22.2011 } - - - - - -

I found a new pretzel recipe similar to that of Auntie Anne's Pretzels. Obviously it is not the original recipe since some secret ingredients are omitted to the public. But it was delicious. Dad was so impressed at dinner last night. He was already full from dinner, but still managed to eat two pretzels. I <3 this recipe.

PREPARATION:

Sprinkle yeast on lukewarm water in mixing bowl; stir to dissolve. Add sugar, salt and stir to dissolve; add flour and knead dough until smooth and elastic. Let rise at least 1/2 hour.

While dough is rising, prepare a baking soda water bath with 2 cups warm water and 2 Tbsp baking soda. Be certain to stir often. After dough has risen, pinch off bits of dough and roll into a long rope* (about 1/2 inch or less thick) and shape. Dip pretzel in soda solution and place on greased baking sheet. Allow pretzels to rise again. Bake in 450 degrees F oven for about 10 minutes or until golden. Brush with melted butter and enjoy!

Toppings: after you brush with butter try sprinkling with coarse salt. Or for Auntie Anne's famous Cinnamon Sugar, try melting a stick of butter in a shallow bowl (big enough to fit the entire pretzel) and in another shallow bowl make a mixture of cinnamon and sugar. Dip the pretzel into the butter, coating both sides generously. Then dip again into the cinnamon mixture. Enjoy!

* The longer and thinner you can make the dough rope, the more like Auntie Anne's they will be. (Of course I don't have the counter space!)